Behav. Sci. 2016, 6(3), 17; doi:10.3390/bs6030017
Is Internet Pornography Causing Sexual Dysfunctions? A Review with Clinical Reports
1
Flight Surgeon, Fleet Logistics Support Squadron 40, Norfolk, VA 34800 Bob Wilson Drive, San Diego, CA 92592, USA
2
The Reward Foundation, 5 Rose Street, Edinburgh EH2 2PR, Scotland, UK
3
Department of Urology, Naval Medical Center San Diego, 34800 Bob Wilson Drive, San Diego, CA 92592, USA
4
Department of Mental Health, Naval Medical Center San Diego, 34800 Bob Wilson Drive, San Diego, CA 92592, USA
5
Department of Ophthalmology, Naval Medical Center San Diego, 34800 Bob Wilson Drive, San Diego, CA 92592, USA
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Academic Editor: Scott D. Lane
Received: 10 May 2016 / Revised: 29 July 2016 / Accepted: 2 August 2016 / Published: 5 August 2016
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Addictive Behaviors: Assessment and Treatment)
View Full-Text
|
Download PDF [299 KB, uploaded 5 August 2016]
Abstract
Traditional factors that once explained men’s sexual difficulties appear insufficient to account for the sharp rise in erectile dysfunction, delayed ejaculation, decreased sexual satisfaction, and diminished libido during partnered sex in men under 40. This review (1) considers data from multiple domains, e.g., clinical, biological (addiction/urology), psychological (sexual conditioning), sociological; and (2) presents a series of clinical reports, all with the aim of proposing a possible direction for future research of this phenomenon. Alterations to the brain's motivational system are explored as a possible etiology underlying pornography-related sexual dysfunctions. This review also considers evidence that Internet pornography’s unique properties (limitless novelty, potential for easy escalation to more extreme material, video format, etc.) may be potent enough to condition sexual arousal to aspects of Internet pornography use that do not readily transition to real-life partners, such that sex with desired partners may not register as meeting expectations and arousal declines. Clinical reports suggest that terminating Internet pornography use is sometimes sufficient to reverse negative effects, underscoring the need for extensive investigation using methodologies that have subjects remove the variable of Internet pornography use. In the interim, a simple diagnostic protocol for assessing patients with porn-induced sexual dysfunction is put forth. View Full-TextKeywords:
erectile dysfunction; low sexual desire; low sexual satisfaction; delayed ejaculation; pornography; Internet pornography; sexually explicit material; PIED
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. (CC BY 4.0).
Share & Cite This Article
MDPI and ACS Style
Park, B.Y.; Wilson, G.; Berger, J.; Christman, M.; Reina, B.; Bishop, F.; Klam, W.P.; Doan, A.P. Is Internet Pornography Causing Sexual Dysfunctions? A Review with Clinical Reports. Behav. Sci. 2016, 6, 17.
Note that from the first issue of 2016, MDPI journals use article numbers instead of page numbers. See further details here.
Related Articles
Article Metrics
Comments
[Return to top]
Behav. Sci.
EISSN 2076-328X
Published by MDPI AG, Basel, Switzerland
RSS
E-Mail Table of Contents Alert